Perception verb complements in Akatek, a Mayan language

242 6. TYPOLOGY OF PERCEPTION VERB COMPLEMENTS
The usage of koto can sometimes be restricted by context. In the PVC
in (52) the event denoting no is grammatical, but koto as an indicator
of a proposition is ungrammatical.
(52) Noda-wa [Takako-ga gake-kara ochiru no/ *koto
Noda-TP [Takako-SB cli -from fall:NPT NMZR/ NMZR
]-o mita.
]-ACC see:PT
`Noda saw Takako fall o the cli .' Horie (1993), 93
Apparently, speakers of Japanese have greater di culties accepting
miru `see' as a matrix predicate for a koto-PVC than as a matrix predicate
for a no-PVC, whereas with the matrix predicate kiku `hear' this
restriction does not exist (Holzapfel, 1996). This might be the case
because miru `see' can also be used as an active perception verb, and
active perception verbs are unlikely to occur with proposition denoting
PVCs. In any case, there are contexts that allow the combinination
of miru `see' with koto-PVCs, see example (53).
(53) Tar^o wa [Jir^o ga heya ni hairu koto
Tar^o TP [Jir^o SB Zimmer PREP betreten:NPT NMZR
]-o miru.
]-ACC sehen:NPT
`Tar^o sieht, da Jir^o das Zimmer betritt.'
Holzapfel (1996), 71
3.5. Summary. The distribution of proposition denoting PVC
types over the typology of PVCs is illustrated in Table 3. So far,
no PARA PVC types that can be proposition denoting have been
attested. IND PVC are the most frequently used complement types,
Table 3. Proposition denoting PVC types
PVC type Language
IND, { COMP (+ EV) Nez Perce, Mohawk, Cayuga
IND, + COMP Russian, Modern Greek, Arberesh,
French, German, Malagasy, English
Fijian, Cambodian, Japanese, Akatek
SUB, + COMP Akatek
PARA ?
INF English
NMLZ Japanese